A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronic visual display that employs light-modulating properties of liquid crystals. LCDs are available to display arbitrary images (as in a general-purpose computer display) or fixed images with low information content, which can be displayed or hidden, such as preset words, digits, symbols and 7-segment displays, such as in a digital clock. LCDs are employed in a wide range of applications including computer monitors, televisions, instrument panels, aircraft cockpit displays, and signage. LCDs are also common in consumer devices such as DVD players, gaming devices, clocks, watches, calculators, and telephones.
Some LCDs can be driven with a multiplexing (MUX) interface. Such LCDs can be referred to as MUX LCDs. A MUX LCD employs multiple “backplanes” or segment commons. With this configuration, a given segment control line can be connected to as many segments as there are backplanes, provided that each of the LCD segments tied to the given segment control line is tied to a separate backplane. This technique “multiplexes” each of the segment control lines, which can reduce the number of external connections. This is the method used with complex displays that have limited interconnection surface area or available drive circuits. This reduction in the number of external connections can enhance device reliability and increase the potential display density.